Department for Exiting the European Union

Martin Selmayr

baroness deech: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the propriety of the appointment of Martin Selmayr as Secretary-General of the European Commission following the investigation carried out by the European Ombudsman into the procedure that was followed before his appointment.

lord callanan: Appointments to the European Commission civil service are an internal matter for the Commission.

Department for International Development

Darfur: Armed Conflict

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many internally displaced peoplethey estimate to be living in Darfur; how many Darfuri refugeesthey estimate to be living in Chad; whether theyconsider it safe for displaced people and refugees to return to their homes; what are their estimates of food shortages and the potential for famine in the region; whether they consider it would be safe for the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur to withdraw their peacekeepers from Darfur by 2020; and if so, on what grounds they reached that conclusion.

lord bates: The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that 1.6 million Internally Displaced People are living in Darfur. Over 300,000 Sudanese refugees remain in Chad. The UN estimated in July that the number of people requiring urgent food assistance (in phases 3 and 4 of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system) is expected to rise to 6.2 million. The UK is continuing to monitor the situation closely.A voluntary programme for the safe and dignified repatriation of Darfuri refugees from Chad, administered by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Governments of Sudan and Chad, is ongoing. Since the programme began in April, around 350 refugees have returned to their places of residence in Darfur.The security situation has evolved in much of Darfur, and therefore it makes sense that the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) should also change. The UN Security Council resolution adopted in July this year provides the Mission with a mandate that fits the evolving situation. Nevertheless, while there have been improvements, we recognise that the security situation remains fragile. We therefore continue to support a gradual, conditions-based withdrawal of UNAMID, contingent upon a fully benchmarked exit strategy, to ensure that improvements in the security situation are sustained.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs: Autism

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional support is offered to mainstream schools in England working with pupils on theautistic spectrum.

lord agnew of oulton: All mainstream schools have a duty to use their ‘best endeavours’ to meet the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and this includes those with autism. They are funded to do so through core schools funding. If pupils with more complex needs cannot be supported adequately from this budget, schools can ask their local authority for additional funding.Core funding for schools and high needs has risen from almost £41 billion in 2017/18 to £42.4 billion in 2018/19. £6 billion of this funding is allocated for high needs. We have provided an additional £140 million in high needs funding in 2018/19 and will provide an additional £120 million in 2019/20. This supports local authorities and schools to meet the needs of all children and young people with more complex SEN, including those with autism.In April of this year we awarded a new contract to Nasen and University College London (UCL), on behalf of the Whole School SEND consortium, to equip the school workforce to deliver high quality teaching across all types of SEND. Newly appointed regional SEND leaders will bring local networks and schools together to share good practice, improve access to resources and training and help all schools to improve provision.The department has been funding the Autism Education Trust (AET) since 2011 to provide training for early years, school and further education staff. To date, the AET has provided training, through sub-contracted ‘hubs’, for more than 185,000 staff, equipping them to support children and young people with autism. This contract was extended from April 2018 to March 2020 with a further £1.45 million.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Local Government

baroness kennedy of cradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government to which local authorities in England they have appointed Commissioners; for which areas of service; and for how long each Commissioner has been in place.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: There are currently five Commissioners appointed under section 15 (5) and (6) of the Local Authority Act 1999 in Northamptonshire County Council and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.On 10 May 2018, the Secretary of State appointed Tony McArdle (Lead Commissioner) and Brian Roberts as Commissioners to Northamptonshire County Council. Directions charge them to oversee governance and scrutiny, strategic financial management and the appointment of statutory officers. The directions will be in place until 2021.In Rotherham, three commissioners remain in place until 23 September 2018; Mary Ney (Lead Commissioner), Julie Kenny CBE (Supporting Commissioner) and Patricia Bradwell (Children's Social Care Commissioner). Commissioners Ney and Kenny were both appointed in February 2015, and Commissioner Bradwell was appointed in 2016. As this is a joint intervention with the Department for Education, the Commissioners were all appointed under both the Local Government Act 1999 and section 497 A (4B) of the Education Act 1999.However, on 18 September 2018 the Secretary of State announced that from 24 September 2018 control of all services will be returned to the council, including children’s social care, and the three commissioners will be withdrawn. The Council must receive an independent review before 31 March 2019. This follows the gradual return of select functions as the Council have improved and made strong progress over the last three years.

Homelessness

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Housing First model developed in Finland in the context of tackling homelessness in the UK.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The former Secretary of State and Officials from this Department have visited Finland in order to see first hand the Housing First approach, which has been implemented.As a result of this, Peter Fredrikson, a former senior advisor to the Finnish Government on Housing First and homelessness, was invited to sit on the Rough Sleeping Advisory panel which helped Government produce the Rough Sleeping Strategy, published on 13 August.In order to test the approach at scale in this country we are investing £28 million in 3 regional Housing First pilots in the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region.The first tranche of funding was paid to the regions in June. The Department is working closely, through the recently established Rough Sleeping Initiative, with the combined authorities, who are leading the implementation of the pilots in the regions. The aim of this close working will be to establish an ambitious model of support.

Combined Authorities: Public Appointments

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the processes in place to make appointments in combined authorities are sufficiently robust to ensure a rigorous appointment process and the selection of the best candidates for the positions advertised.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: It is for each combined authority to decide the appointment processes that it adopts within the applicable statutory framework which also applies to local authorities, including the requirement that all appointments of officers are to be made on merit. Should an appointment be proposed or made contrary to the statutory framework, the combined authority's monitoring officer is under a duty to make a public report.

Northern Ireland Office

Belfast Harbour: Security

lord browne of belmont: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the security arrangements in place in the Port of Belfast.

lord duncan of springbank: Security at the Port of Belfast is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. Security arrangements at the Port of Belfast are the responsibility of the Belfast Harbour Police, managed by Belfast Harbour Commissioners, who are appointed by Northern Ireland’s Department for Infrastructure.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Languages

baroness coussins: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many officials from the Department for International Trade have received language training at theForeign and Commonwealth Office's Language Centre to help prepare them to conduct negotiations leading to future Free Trade Agreements.

baroness fairhead: Languages are an important element of this Department’s capability needs and the Department continues to encourage its civil servants in the development of their language skills. We will draw on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s in-country diplomatic staff and their language expertise and we currently have twenty four designated language roles overseas. We expect future Free Trade Agreements being considered at this time will be negotiated in English, including with the US, Australia and New Zealand. Where they are not, it is normal practice to make use of professional interpreters.

Department for International Trade: Languages

baroness coussins: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the value of a language skills audit across the civil service to the potential recruitment of any additional trade experts needed post-Brexit.

baroness fairhead: The Department encourages its civil servants to expand and develop their language skills, including those who will be involved in Free Trade Agreement negotiations. The department currently has twenty four designated language roles overseas. The Department has no current plans to undertake a language skills audit across the Civil Service in order to support the potential recruitment of any additional trade experts post-Brexit.